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Summer 2019 • First Edition
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THE ACCIDENTAL
A group of Goodwin’s family members jump into Pleasant Lake in Walworth County. This photograph appears on the cover of her award-winning book “Come to the Lake.”
Area lake provides inspiration for her latest book BY Bridget Bartal STAFF WRITER
nne Goodwin, author of the books “Come to the Lake” and “Stay for Lunch,” has a strong background in communications, branding and printing. But writing awardwinning books was a little less premeditated for her. Goodwin, who has spent every summer at Pleasant Lake in Walworth County for the past 36 years, describes the rarity of the cottage lifestyle in 2018. “Matthew’s parents found one of the cottages in the 1950s. In the ‘50s, his mom started saying ‘no TV here.’ We try to hold on to that analog life. That’s a fleeting thing nowadays,” Goodwin said. Her book “Come to the Lake” slowly evolved from her intention of documenting their unique way of life. “I’ve always been a notetaker and journal writer. It was after my children, who are in their 20s now, stopped needing me on such a daily basis – that’s when I needed something else to do,” Goodwin
said. “I consider myself an accidental author. If I were to have said aloud, ‘I’m going to write an award-winning book,’ it would have seemed really daunting. For anyone who thinks they might want to write a book, first write a story. First, get used to expressing yourself on paper,” Goodwin said.
marketing services and branding. I also had a lot of experience in print production,” Goodwin said. When it came time to publish her first book in 2008, she realized that she wanted to self-publish. “My purpose as an author is to provide my reader with a pleasurable pause. That’s why my publishing company was called Pleasurable Pause Press. I decided to self-publish so no one could tell me, ‘This isn’t a good cover’ or ‘The book needs to be longer,’” Goodwin explained. Her press uses offset printing, a traditional method that rarely is used in book printing anymore.
Family life Anne and her husband, Matthew, have four sons. Her husband is a musician, and one of her sons studied jazz trumpet in college. “We create together as a family and encourage creativity,” Goodwin said. Her first book, “Stay for Lunch,” tells the story of an unexpected friend connection. “As I was driving, someone had a car accident. I stopped to help. Here she was, a tiny bird of an old woman, with a bone sticking out of her leg. I was 31; she was 86. For
the first four hours we met, we held hands. Ten years later, I wanted to tell the story of it,” Goodwin said. Goodwin was a communications major and English minor in college. “Professionally, my work was in
said. Her more spontaneous approach to writing has gotten her an Independent Publisher Book Award for “Stay for Lunch” and four national book awards for “Come to the Lake.” One of these awards is a Living Now Book Award. See AUTHOR • Page 2
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The writing process
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Goodwin discussed her writing process, a process that has taken her 10 years for both of her books. “In the beginning, I’ll be out in my kayak looking at nature. I’ll see a heron, and I can’t wait to get home and write about it. I experience something and take a note of it. I’m not a disciplined writer who usually allots a certain amount of time each day for writing. My books are made up of small notes at a time,” Goodwin
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